Shepherd speaks

Our beloved chairman, head of the Geordie Nation, has come out of the NE1 bombproof bunker and decided to shout a few words from the parapet. With two months until renewal forms for season tickets land on the mat, expect a few more "rallying calls" before June 30th:

'It has been a difficult time for Emre for the last three months and it cannot have been easy for him to have something like this hanging over his head. But he has kept his head up and showed his character after his calf injury at the way he came back into the team, first as a substitute in Holland on Thursday night and then at Charlton Athletic on Sunday. Like our injury situation, this is something we could have done without this season, but now we can get back to football.'